Creamed Spinach

Growing up, creamed spinach was synonymous with the holidays and our once-a-year prime rib that it accompanied. But while creamed spinach appears fancy there’s no reason not to have this all the time! In fact, preparations of foods high in vitamin K with lots of fat increases the bioavailability of the vitamin K by a factor of 4! So all that raw spinach you’ve been having didn’t do you as much good as it would drowned it in cream and butter, which is exactly what this recipe does. Vitamin K is well known for its role in blood-clotting, but that also vastly oversimplifies its crucial role in our biology, without which our body cannot do simple things like grow cells or transmit conductivity. A vitamin K deficiency can also be devastating to the microbiome, which require it for their own growth factors. Having sources of vitamin K which are also delicious is a better recipe for success, and there are quite a few ways to use it to heal certain conditions, as outlined in my book. Spinach is also one of those crops which is highly susceptible to nitrate excess (explained in my book) and as such should always be eaten organic! In my opinion, most other creamed spinach recipes get two things wrong: they fail to chop up the spinach which leaves it stringy and chewy, and there is far too much cream or garlic which makes it overly rich and fights the spinach rather than compliment it. Mine uses less dairy, and shallots instead of garlic to solve this problem.

CREAMED SPINACH

2 bunches spinach or 2 boxes frozen spinach (thawed), minced
1 ham steak (or more per person)
4 tbsp butter
1-2 large shallot bulbs, minced
1/4 tsp salt
pinch pepper
2 tsp flour (spelt, einkorn, kamut)
1/2 cup whole milk

Add the butter to a large pan and fry the ham steak on medium heat until it’s browned—do not burn the butter. When both sides are browned set the steak aside and add the minced shallot and salt to the hot drippings (the ham is already salty so don’t over do the salt), sauté for five minutes then add the minced spinach and pepper and cook for about 8-10 minutes until it is very soft and most of the water is evaporated. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the spinach and fold in, cook for another 3 minutes then add the milk and stir until it thickens. Serve with the ham steak (or you can use beef steaks or other meat in its place).